In partnership with

Happy Friday! What a week it’s been. A new $100 million regional growth debt fund was born, Palestine's Ibtikar Fund offered a rare glimmer of hope by closing their second VC fund, and SHIFT secured a barnstorming $82.8 million investment from Merak Capital.

Oh, and who had Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Joe Biden chatting all things AI in the Oval Office on their 2024 bingo card? We’ve also got the scoop on Adam Neumann’s soft launch of his new co-living startup in Riyadh. a16z’s decision to hand this man $350 million still baffles us in ways that are hard to put politely.

Let’s dig in 👇

P.S. We hope you didn’t miss us too much on Wednesday. Taking time to reflect has been hard to come by, so we decided to skip this week to realign our focus on where we want to take FWDstart in the coming months. The good news? It was time well spent, and we’re excited to share what we have in store over the coming weeks and months…

This week’s round-up is a 6 min read:

• 💸 Ajeej Capital and Nuwa Capital launch $100 million growth debt fund for tech in MENA

• 🇵🇸 Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund closes its second VC fund at $25 million

• 🚗 SHIFT secures $82.8 million from Merak Capital to accelerate growth

• 🏢 WeWork’s Adam Neumann soft launches co-living startup in Riyadh

• 🔈 Catch-up on Episode 12 of the VC React Podcast

Synthflow: Build AI voice assistants to manage inbound and outbound calls

Keep your business on 24/7 with genAI. Synthflow’s simple no-code builder lets you set up human-sounding AI voice assistants that can handle call center tasks: real-time appointment booking, lead qualification, handling FAQ, transferring between agents, and more. White label included. Pay as low as $0.08 per minute of conversation. CRM Integrations with Hubspot, Gohighlevel, Zoho, etc. Start for free or let us build your AI receptionist.

Try AI Phone Calling

🚀 Startup funding round-up

SHIFT (🇸🇦 KSA), a tech-driven mobility platform which provides solutions like car rentals, last-mile logistics, and vehicle leasing, has secured $82.8 million in funding from Merak Capital. 

Coral (🇦🇪 UAE), a climate tech startup which helps businesses manage their carbon emissions through a streamlined platform, has raised $3 million in a Seed round led by a group of unnamed investors.

Kwiks (🇲🇦 Morocco), an HR tech startup that connects companies with freelance headhunters using AI-driven solutions, has raised $827,000 in funding from Azur Innovation Management (AIM).

Padash (🇮🇶 Iraq), a q-commerce platform for instant food and grocery delivery, has secured $125,000 in pre-seed funding from an undisclosed angel investor.

Mila Celebrations (🇸🇦 KSA), a tech-driven planning platform that offers a one-stop solution for organising events, has secured $227,000 in a pre-Seed round from angel investors.

VC

💸 Ajeej Capital and Nuwa Capital launch $100 million growth debt fund for tech in MENA

💸 Ajeej Capital and Nuwa Capital have launched Amplify Growth Partnership, a new $100 million growth debt fund focused on addressing the debt capital gap for Series A to Series C tech businesses in the region.

• Amplify is specifically targeting market-standard deals, contrasting with the larger venture debt transactions that fuelled MENA's $757 million surge in 2023.

• It joins the ranks of other regional VCs, such as Shorooq Partners, who announced their own $100 million venture debt fund back in May 2024.

💰 Investor low-down: The fund will be led by Sharaf Sharaf, a veteran with two decades of experience in debt and equity investments. Sharaf’s previous roles include co-heading Gulf Capital’s $220 million credit fund and establishing NBK Capital’s mezzanine debt fund. 

⚙️ Breaking it down

Amplify Growth Partnership is looking to invest in companies that have demonstrated market traction and are in the scaling phase. Companies must be VC-backed, have $5 million or more in revenue, recently raised an equity round, and have a manageable cash burn rate.

• Amplify offers loans starting at $3 million, with terms of 3-4 years and flexible amortisation options. These loans will be disbursed in 2-3 tranches and may include a warrant component to align incentives between Amplify and its portfolio companies

Up to 20% of the fund will be allocated to companies outside MENA looking to enter the region, as well as traditional businesses integrating techn into their operations.

🔮 Flashforward

The fund's first deal has already closed, a fintech company in Saudi, though details on the recipient have not been disclosed, and expects to announce its next investment shortly.

💰 Investments round-up

🇵🇸 Ibtikar Fund has closed its second VC fund, Ibtikar Fund II CV, at $25 million, exceeding its $15 million target and doubling the size of its first fund. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) committed $3 million, marking its first equity investment in a West Bank VC fund. Other investors include the Bank of Palestine, Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The fund will invest in up to 25 early-stage tech companies, aiming to address capital shortages, support digitalisation, create jobs, and empower young and female entrepreneurs.

🇸🇦 Sanabil, the tech investment arm of PIF, has disclosed that it has taken stakes in 14 new VC funds and made significant investments, including in France’s AI startup Mistral, which recently raised $640 million, and Databricks, which secured $500 million in its latest funding round. The firm has also backed funds like Altimeter Capital, Innovation Endeavors, Hongshan Capital, 5Y Capital, Yunqi Partners, and Sweden’s Northzone. Last year, Sanabil invested in Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, and Founders Fund, and has been revealed to hold direct investments in NEA, one of the world’s largest VC firms, with over $25 billion AUM.

🌍 MENA+ Ventures, a syndicate supporting early-stage, tech-driven businesses founded by individuals with MENA+ heritage in the UK, Europe, and the US, has been launched by Jad Fadl (Managing Partner) and Nafez Dakkak (Venture Partner). The fund will invest in pre-seed and seed stages, with ticket sizes from $50k to $500k. Through their 1:10 Pledge, founders will donate 1% of exit proceeds to MENA+ scholarships, while the syndicate pledges 10% of their carry to education programs in Palestine. Open to experienced angel investors, MENA+ Ventures will focus on sector-agnostic, globally competitive tech businesses.

🇦🇪 General Atlantic plans to open an office in Abu Dhabi by the end of the year, with a dealmaker from London, Karim Boueiz, set to be the first team member. The private equity firm, managing $83 billion, has received preliminary approval for an ADGM license, with final approval expected soon. This move aims to strengthen ties with Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth funds, ADIA and Mubadala. General Atlantic has been expanding its Middle East presence since its first investment in 2015.

 🤖 AI round-up

🇦🇪 AI took centre stage in the meeting between UAE President H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and US President Joe Biden, where both leaders pledged to advance safe and trustworthy AI. They plan to draft an MoU on AI collaboration, marking the first time AI has been a major focus in a US presidential meeting with a foreign leader,.

🇶🇦 Ooredoo Group has secured a $549 million financing deal with QNB, Doha Bank, and Masraf Al Rayan to expand its data centre operations beyond its current 26 locations across MENA. This 10-year hybrid facility, the largest tech transaction in Qatar’s ICT sector, will accelerate Ooredoo’s AI and cloud services, following a June partnership with NVIDIA to deploy Tensor Core GPUs.

💾 TSMC and Samsung are exploring plans to build mega chip manufacturing facilities in the UAE, with potential funding from the UAE and a key role played by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign fund, Mubadala. Executives from both companies have visited the UAE to discuss plans, which could involve multi-factory complexes requiring over $100 billion in investments.

⚙️ Microsoft is set to open a Global Engineering Development Centre in Abu Dhabi, expanding its presence in AI, cloud, and cybersecurity development. This move follows a $1.5 billion partnership with G42, which includes launching an AI for Good Lab and a Responsible AI Centre in the UAE capital.

🇲🇦🇴🇲 Morocco has announced its Digital Morocco 2030 strategy to drive economic growth, expand digital exports, and train 100,000 young people annually in digital skills. Meanwhile, Oman launched its 2024-2026 National AI Programme, aiming to strengthen ICT as a key economic pillar through a national open data platform and an AI R&D center.

⌨️ Tech round-up

🏢 Flow, Adam Neumann's co-living startup, has expanded to Saudi Arabia with a soft launch in Riyadh, offering 238 furnished apartments in the Al Narjis area. Apartments, starting at $3,500 per month, include hotel-style services like laundry, housekeeping, pools, co-ed gyms, and bowling alleys. Flow plans to add nearly 1,000 more units across three additional Riyadh properties. The company, which launched in Fort Lauderdale and Miami earlier this year, secured $350 million from Andreessen Horowitz in 2022. While local private investors are involved, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is not.

🚗 WeRide and Uber have announced a partnership to bring WeRide’s autonomous vehicles to the Uber platform in Abu Dhabi later this year, making autonomous rides available to select users. WeRide, the largest robotaxi operator in the UAE, secured the nation's first self-driving vehicle license in July 2023. The partnership excludes the U.S. and China.

💰 VC React Podcast: Episode 12

🎧 In this week's episode of the VC React Podcast, fintech took center stage as we discussed major funding rounds, expansions, and secondaries across the MENA region.

On the funding front, Paymob extended its Series B by $22 million, bringing its total to $72M and FlapKap raised a massive $34M in a pre-Series A round.

We also covered Revolut and NuBank expanding into the MENA market, with Revolut’s secondary sale potentially shaking up the region’s fintech landscape.

Finally, Seez, a MENA startup, is gearing up for its big move into the US, having secured $4.2M to fuel its expansion.

This week, Ahmad and I were joined by:

• Hasan Haider, Founder and Managing Partner at Plus VC (+VC)

• Jessica Al-Hussaini, VC Senior Associate at Globivest

📆 Events and Opportunities

🚀 The Sharjah Startup Studio (S3) by Sheraa is now accepting applications for its six-month program, designed for startups in Edtech, Creative Industries, Manufacturing, and Sustainability.

🔑 What you get:

• Equity-Free: Zero fees, no equity stake

• 1-year free business license at Sharjah RTI Park

• Access to Sheraa’s co-working spaces

• 25 hours of personalized mentorship from 30+ seasoned experts

• Connections to partners, investors, and corporate leaders

• Over AED 3M in software and tools

📍 Location: Sharjah, UAE
📅 Applications close: November 24, 2024

📰 Recommended Reads

• Kamel Al-Tawil. It is vital we protect the Gulf’s internet super-corridors